MIT study: Look at the life cycle before dismissing concrete

Cement's carbon intensity can often lead to harsh judgments of concrete as a building material, but research from MIT's Concrete Sustainability Hub says that looking at every phase of the life cycle is necessary to a fair judgment. "Conventional environmental assessments often overlook one or more of these phases, leading to incomplete results and inadequate conclusions," the study said. For example, the total life cycle, global warming potential for concrete is the same as, or lower than, designs in steel or wood.